All That Matters
by LuxEtVeritas10
Summary: Emily needs something more than she needs her job. How I want Emily and JJ to leave the show.


**A/N: With Emily and JJ leaving the show, I thought about how I would want it to happen. This would never, ever happen but I wrote it anyway. Intended to be a one shot.  
**

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner was sitting at his desk at the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI. More often than not he arrived earlier and stayed later than the rest of his team. When the team was not gathering for briefings or away on cases, he almost always could be found in his office, attending to the managerial aspects of the unit's work. He knew his reputation of being nonsensical and extremely dedicated was very much deserved and he did not mind it one bit. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was proud of his reputation and the respect it demanded.

Hotch completed debriefing paperwork for his superiors and added it to the sizable stack in his outbox. He glanced at his watch and frowned. 8:23 a.m. Glancing out into the bullpen, he noticed that SSA Emily Prentiss had not yet arrived. It unusual for her to be late. There was a lot about Prentiss that had been unusual in recent months. For starters, she had uncharacteristically requested extended periods of time off at random intervals. Hotch had, of course, approved her requests. The BAU was not officially in the habit of denying the vacation and personal time off that agents were entitled to, but it was rather heavily implied that the unit rarely took time off.

Maybe it was because he had enough confidence in the rest of the team to successfully complete their cases in Emily's absence or maybe it was because of the guilt he felt from the realization that he had neglected to spend enough time with his own family until it was too late, but whatever the reason, Hotch had yet question or deny Emily's repeated requests. He knew eventually he would have to inquire as to why Emily suddenly needed so much time off, when that had not been her habit in the past. He realized that today would probably have to be that day, as her out-of-character tardiness needed to be addressed as well. Ordinarily he would let it slide that she was late, but combined with the absences and it was too much to ignore.

Emily was a hard one to profile, even for a profiler as skilled and experienced as Hotch. She was an intensely private person, and rarely revealed any personal information about herself. Hotch already knew her personnel file provided no further insight. The abnormally thin file held only a few sheets of paper: her FBI application and a brief summary of her postings that contained only dates and locations. It wasn't unusual for an agent's file to not contain demerits or citations, but it was unusual for a file to contain so little.

Sometimes Prentiss reminded Hotch of himself. She was exceptional at the job and knew how to be extremely effective in a team environment, yet withdrawn enough to have her own space and life outside of work. He didn't blame her for holding her personal life so close to the chest; he had been the same way. He had once overheard some of the other members of the team trying to persuade Emily to go on a date and he had heard her reply that she just didn't have enough time for things like dates. He didn't blame her for that either; the BAU was extremely demanding.

Which brought Hotch back to his original thought: why was Emily suddenly taking time off? She could be seeing someone, but he thought that unlikely to be the reason. Unless it was a very serious relationship, he didn't think Emily would put her job second.

What else could it be, though? The unit's media liaison Jennifer Jareau, known by most as JJ, had unexpectedly left the FBI eight months earlier. Everyone had been surprised when she suddenly was offered the job of Press Secretary for the President of the United States. No one had been surprised that she couldn't turn the offer down. Her departure had no doubt affected all of them, but none more than the unit's other two female members: Emily and tech analyst Penelope Garcia.

Garcia was mostly confined to "the cave" as she lovingly referred to it. In short, it was a fortified and secluded office full of very sophisticated and very expense computer equipment. Given that she only traveled with the team on special assignments, Hotch realized that left Emily as the one most likely affected by JJ's departure. It wasn't an exact match, but Emily's time requests has begun sometime around when JJ left. Maybe the profiler was feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated. He made a mental note to bring it up when he talked with her.

Hotch was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He glanced up in time to see Emily enter his office.

"Hotch, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, Emily, come on in. What's up?" He thought to himself that her timing was uncanny. The profiler in him noticed that Prentiss seemed slightly nervous, yet strangely unwavering and confident at the same time. Her closing the door before fully entering his office only peaked his curiosity.

"Well, first of all, I want to say that I'm sorry for being late today."

Hotch took her pause for a breath to interject, "Actually, I want to talk to you about that."

Emily surprised Hotch with her counter response. "I understand but first, let me say what I need to say. It's important."

When Hotch did not indicate he was going to stop her, she continued, "Sir, I just wanted to let you know that I am resigning from the FBI immediately. I will clean out my desk and turn in my gun and badge."

Hotch was speechless. He felt a vague sense of deja vu. This moment reminded him of the confusing conversation that had transpired when Emily had first arrived at the BAU, transferred into the unit by one of Hotch's superiors who intended her to spy on Hotch and report back. More than that, this moment reminded him of when Emily had figured out her "assignment" and tried to resign rather than sell out her co-workers. Hotch wondered if something similar had happened again.

"I don't understand. Has something happened?"

Emily knew what he was implying. "Yes, but not what you think. This has nothing to do with Strauss."

If not Strauss, then what? "Then I repeat: I don't understand."

Now Emily looked only confident. The slight nervousness she displayed earlier had completely disappeared. "I don't expect you to, sir." She paused as she seemed to consider what she had just said. "Actually, maybe you will. I love my job very much. I get a great sense of satisfaction by what we do and I like to think that I'm pretty good at it."

"You are. You're one of the best I've ever worked with." He was being sincere.

"Thanks." As proud as she was of his praise, Hotch would tell it made her slightly uncomfortable. She quickly continued, "I used to think the job was all I needed, all I would ever need. And for the longest time, that was true. But it turns out there is something else I need more."

For the first time since the conversation began, Hotch felt his footing. He finally had a grasp on what was going on. "You mean someone, " he provided.

Emily looked a little surprised at his revelation, but the relieved look on her face gave away the accuracy of his statement. "Yes, someone. I never thought I'd have to choose between my job and a person. And the truth is that I _don't_ have to choose, but that's what makes me want to that much more."

Hotch thought back to all of the fights he had with his now deceased ex-wife. How she had always wanted him to transfer to a desk job or even leave the FBI. Hotch understood what Emily meant. He had always been forced to choose and he had always chosen the job. He didn't have Emily's strength.

"You're right, I do understand."

"I still feel I owe you more of an explanation. Obviously, I've been seeing someone. I didn't tell you or anyone else because I didn't know how serious it would end up being. I've never been in a serious relationship before. At least not like this. I've never felt so..." She paused, looking off into space, obviously trying to find the right word.

"Happy?" He supplied

She looked at him gratefully, "Yes. And to be honest, it scares me to death."

"You are very obviously happy."

"I am, Hotch. For once, I am so completely happy with my personal life." Again, she seemed to be staring off into space, as if relieving what memory or memories must have triggered this revelation in her. He wasn't about to interrupt that. She eventually continued, "Anyway, that's why I've been taking so much time off lately. I'm sure you've been wondering."

Somehow this had turned slightly into the conversation Hotch thought he was going to be having with Emily today. "Well I was a little worried. But I'm glad to find out it's just that you've been spending time with this person."

"Well, partially. I've spent some of the time doing some self-reflection. As I said earlier, this is the first serious relationship I've been in and it's caught me off guard. I'm not used to letting people in. It's been a personal struggle for me but it's worth it." She was being honest. Not only had she let the person she was dating in, but she also was letting Hotch in now. He understood that at some point in the recent past this conversation would have been impossible for her to have.

"And that is why you're quitting. You weren't asked to choose between this person and the job so you chose the person anyway. The ultimate sign of letting them know you're giving in completely." Again, Emily had been right in correcting herself earlier to say that Hotch may understand what she was doing.

"Exactly."

"So, what will you do?"

"Well, though it may seem like a curse most of the time, my family has quite a bit of wealth accumulated. We are going to do some traveling abroad to start. I want to go to Paris first. And then, who knows?"

Emily seemed to sense what Hotch was thinking. She answered before he could vocalize his question.

"I know, not my style at all to not work. I won't be gone too long, I promise. Maybe I won't be back at the BAU or even the FBI, but I would never be truly happy if I wasn't helping families get justice. But that is always waiting for me. Right now, I need to explore what it's like to be happy. Seeing pain and suffering all the time has eaten away at me." Hotch was glad that she appeared to have a good understanding of herself and her limits.

They chatted for a few more minutes before Hotch called security to come and escort Emily from the building. Unfortunately, this was necessary; they did still work at the FBI. Or at least he did. As security arrived and Emily left, Hotch sincerely told her how happy he was for her. He wished her luck and told her to stay in touch. To call when she was ready to come back and he'd see what he could do.

As he sat back down at his desk, Hotch realized while they had covered some of what he wanted to discuss with her, he had forgot to bring up other aspects. Such as if JJ's departure played at all into her revelations.

Noticing the time, Hotch grabbed the necessary folder and headed to the briefing room. The unit had a case to go over. He dreaded having to tell them of Emily's departure. They most likely had been in the room well before him, and had not seen her gathering her things to leave. Maybe she had told them before she told him, he thought, hopefully. After all, it wasn't like Emily to leave without saying goodbye.

Hotch walked into the briefing room. On the way to his chair, he paused at the television to turn it off. The CNN reporter was going through the day's top stories. Hotch was about to hit the power button when the next story caught his attention. The rest of the team took notice, too.

"In a surprise announcement today, Press Secretary Jennifer Jareau resigned immediately from her position." As the reporter spoke, silent recordings of JJ delivering various press conferences from the White House Press Room played. "The White House Chief of Staff made the announcement earlier today." The screen cut to the man in the same Press Room, "Jennifer Jareau has informed the President that she will resign her post as Press Secretary effective immediately." A reporter in the audience asked for a reason. The man continued, "Personal reasons. She wanted to spend more time with her family. Her immediate plans include traveling. She mentioned Paris specifically."

As the network turned to another story, the room around Hotch suddenly came alive. Rossi and Morgan looked shocked. Hotch noticed Garcia didn't seem fazed at all. Of course, he thought. She's JJ's best friend. She knew all along.

Hotch smiled. I guess Emily had answered everything he wanted to ask her after all.

Across town, a black Range Rover pulled into a drive way. The driver, a tall, slender woman with jet black hair got out. As she walked to the front door of the house, she couldn't help but think about how excited she was for the future. She didn't know what it held, but she did know one thing: she, for once, had someone to share it with. Sure, she would miss her job and her co-workers but right now, all the mattered was the woman who was waiting for her to come home. She opened the front door.

"JJ? I'm home!"


End file.
